and I should have had the devil’s own job to escape from the house unpoisoned by the nostrums that lurk in the medicine chest of every well-conducted family.  Agatha, I knew, had a peculiarly Borgiaesque equipment.  Lastly, there was the worldly device, which I adopted, of dissimulating the furnace of my affliction beneath a smiling exterior.  Agatha, therefore, found me an entertaining guest and drove me to the Palace Theatre in high good humour.

There, however, I could resign my role of entertainer in favour of the professionals on the stage.  I sat back in my corner of the box and gave myself up to my harassing concerns.  Young ladies warbled, comic acrobats squirted siphons at each other and kicked each other in the stomach, jugglers threw plates and brass balls with dizzying skill, the famous dancers gyrated pyrotechnically, the house applauded with delight, Agatha laughed and chuckled and clapped her hands and I remained silent, unnoticed and unnoticing in my reflective corner, longing for the foolery to end.  Where was Lola?  Why had she forsaken me?  What remedy, in the fiend’s name, was there for this heart torture within me?  The most excruciating agonies of the little pain inside were child’s play to this.  I bit my lips so as not to groan aloud and contorted my features into the semblance of a smile.

During a momentary interval there came a knock at the box door.  I said, “Come in!” The door opened, and there, to my utter amazement, stood Dale Kynnersley—­Dale, sleek, alert, smiling, attired in the very latest nicety of evening dress affected by contemporary youth—­Dale such as I knew and loved but six months ago.

He came forward to Agatha, who was little less astounded than myself.

“How d’ye do, Lady Durrell?  I’m in the stalls with Harry Essendale.  I tried to catch your eye, but couldn’t.  So I thought I’d come up.”  He turned to me with frank outstretched hand, “How do, Simon?”

I grasped his hand and murmured something unintelligible.  The thing was so extraordinary, so unexpected that my wits went wandering.  Dale carried off the situation lightly.  It was he who was the man of the world, and I the unresourceful stumbler.

“He’s looking ripping, isn’t he, Lady Durrell?  I met old Oldfield the other day, and he was raving about your case.  The thing has never been done before.  Says they’re going mad over your chap in Paris—­they’ve given him medals and wreaths and decorations till he goes about like a prize bull at a fair.  By Jove, it’s good to see you again.”

“You might have taken an earlier opportunity,” Agatha remarked with some acidity.

“So I might,” retorted Dale blandly; “but when a man’s a born ass it takes him some time to cultivate sense!  I’ve been wanting to see you for a long time, Simon—­and to-night I just couldn’t resist it.  You don’t want to kick me out?”

“Heaven forbid,” said I, somewhat brokenly, for the welcome sight of his face and the sound of his voice aroused emotions which even now I do not care to analyse.  “It was generous of you to come up.”